Month: May 2015

Faith in Jesus Christ is the foundational principle of his gospel. Our journey back to God begins with accepting Christ as our savior and redeemer.

Jesus explained it perfectly when he told Nicodemus:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17)

When we accept Christ and believe he suffered and died for our sins and rose again from the grave, this opens a door for us to build faith in his divine role as savior and redeemer.

How do we define faith? The scriptures identify faith as:

Confidence or trust in a person or principle.

Hope for unseen things which are true.

Faith is not a perfect knowledge of things. It is also not simply belief alone. It puts belief into action. Everything we do in life is driven by faith that we will grow and progress from the outcome. Many people who go to college have faith that getting an education will lead to getting a better job. Some people exercise daily and eat a healthy diet because they have faith that a healthy lifestyle will lead to a longer and happier life.

This mirrors how faith works in the spiritual realm. Faith in Jesus Christ is not simply a philosophical or esoteric concept. Faith is built through action.

Belief in Christ grows into faith in our savior when we dedicate our lives to becoming his disciple or, in other words, student. That’s really what the gospel is designed to do – make us students of Christ so we can become like him!

Christ paid for our sins through his atoning blood. Only through believing in him and following his example can we find the true path back to our Father in Heaven. Christ can help us undertake this divine journey into God’s presence again through instructing us in all of the laws, commandments and ordinances designed to mold us into a person who is in the image of our savior.

Faith is defined by how you live as much as what you believe. It means nothing to profess a belief in Christ and embrace a lifestyle out of harmony with his teachings. When we have true faith in Christ, we show it through how we live our lives.

Faith in Christ leads to repentance and prepares us to be baptized by immersion and receive the Holy Ghost. It drives us to obey God’s commandments before and after baptism. What we do on our own does not guarantee salvation. Only Christ can do that through his grace and mercy.

We can lay hold of eternal life only if our hearts are truly converted to him. Our hearts are only truly converted to him when our thoughts, words and actions are guided by what Christ taught and commanded us to do. He teaches how we can emulate his example through his own voice and the voices of his prophets and apostles.

In the end, Nephi sums up perfectly why faith in Jesus Christ matters so much:

“And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.” (2 Nephi 25:26)